


Sorry, Wrong Number

by carolej126



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-29
Updated: 2015-06-29
Packaged: 2018-04-06 20:18:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4235214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolej126/pseuds/carolej126
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Originally published in Sensory Overload 10 (Neon Rainbow Press, 2005)</p>
<p>Jim gets a lesson in pick-up lines and telephones.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sorry, Wrong Number

"Hey, Jim!" Blair called out, entering the loft and dropping his backpack on the floor by the door.

"Chief," Jim responded with a quick smile, looking up from the stash of file folders on his lap. "How was your–?"

Ring!

"I'll get it," Blair offered, only to blink in surprise as Jim shoved his files to the side, bolted off the couch, stalked across the room, and violently snatched up the phone.

"Ellison," Jim snarled, his jaw clenched tight. He only listened for a moment before growling, "You have the wrong number," in a tone that brooked no disagreement.

Blair's amazement grew when Jim forcefully slammed the receiver back down. "Uh, Jim?" he called, his eyes wide. "Have a rough day?"

Jim sighed, rubbing his hand over his face as he retraced his steps and sat back down on the couch. "I've been trying to get some work done." He picked up the folders. "The phone has rung fifteen times in the past two hours."

"Who was calling?" Blair asked, dropping down on the couch beside the detective.

"I have no idea." Jim shrugged. "They all wanted to know what movies are playing tonight."

"Hmm." Blair pursed his lips in thought. "Sounds like one of the movie theaters has a number close to ours."

"Could be. But I'm tired of answering the phone," Jim grumbled.

Blair patted Jim's arm sympathetically. "I'll bet. I take it you didn't want to unplug the phone in case there was an important call?"

"Right."

"Hey, Jim?"

Jim took a deep breath before turning to face Blair. "What?"

Blair quirked one eyebrow. "Why didn't you just let the answering machine pick up?"

Stunned into silence, Jim stared at Blair.

"Or at least move the cordless phone closer so you didn't have to keep getting up?"

"I, uh…" A small smile teased at the corner of Jim's mouth.

"You didn't think of it, did you?" Blair guessed, laughing.

"Nope," Jim admitted, his small smile blossoming into a wide grin. He sheepishly shook his head.

"Man, Jim," Blair said. "I can't believe you–"

Ring!

The grin on Jim's face quickly faded, and he automatically started to get to his feet.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Blair held up one hand, palm out. "No sense in getting all stressed out again. Let the machine get it."

The telephone rang several more times, then the recorded message came on with its invitation to leave a message. In response, a female voice brightly said, "Hi! I'm calling to find out what movies are showing tonight."

Blair scrambled for the phone, dashing across the living room, and managed to lift the receiver before the woman hung up.

"Sandburg, what are you doing?" Jim asked, rescuing the files that had fallen to the floor during Blair's mad flight.

Without responding, Blair raised the phone to his ear. "Hi. This is Blair Sandburg. How can I help you?"

"Chief." Jim shook his head, smiling.

Blair winked at Jim, a mischievous look on his face. "I think you have the wrong number. What number were you calling?"

Jim raised his eyebrows. "Our number, of course."

"Oh, I'm sorry, you do have the wrong number. This isn't the theater, but, umm, hey, maybe I can help you out. What movie did you want to see?" Blair grabbed for the nearby newspaper, and one-handedly scoured each page for the movie guide, tossing each unwanted section to the floor.

"Careful with that paper," Jim warned. "I haven't read it yet."

"Really? You know, that movie's showing down at the Madison tonight. It's at, uh, seven-thirty." Blair dropped the paper to the floor, no longer needed.

"Of course it is," Jim muttered under his breath.

Blair valiantly continued on, trying to ignore the snide comments being made by the detective. "Me? I'm an anthropologist, working on my doctorate at Rainier. How 'bout you?"

"With his luck," Jim mumbled, "she's probably a psychopath."

"You've got a nice voice, too, Kelly."

Jim made a face. "'You've got a nice voice, too, Kelly,'" he echoed sarcastically, just loud enough for Blair to hear him, earning a disgusted look from the observer.

"Directions? Well, it's a bit hard to find. I'd really hate for you to get lost."

"Yeah, right. Pretty smooth, Sandburg." Jim rolled his eyes.

Blair threw Jim a wicked grin, his eyes sparkling with amusement, before turning his attention back to the telephone conversation. "Hey, I've got some free time tonight, and I've been planning to see that movie myself. How 'bout I pick you up?" He waited, holding his breath. "Great!"

"She fell for it," Jim said in astonishment.

"Let me get directions to your place." Blair snapped his fingers at Jim, motioning toward the pencil and legal pad beside Jim's leg.

With a shrug, Jim lifted his hands in feigned inquiry. "What?" he mouthed.

"Just a sec," Blair said into the phone. He laid the receiver down before moving across the room to snare the desired items.

"Oh, that's what you wanted." Jim's tone was all innocence.

With a huff, Blair headed back to the phone. "Okay, go ahead." He began to scribble on the paper. "Okay, Kelly. I'll see you at six-thirty. That should give us enough time to get there." He hung up the phone before turning to look at Jim, a smug look on his face.

"Got a date tonight, Chief?" Jim asked, as Blair returned to his position on the couch.

Blair bounced up and down on the cushions. "Yeah! Her name's Kelly and she's a nurse down at Cascade Regional."

"Sandburg." Jim shook his head, sighing.

"Oh, she said our phone number was on an advertisement one of the local theaters handed out. The special prices are only for tonight, so we shouldn't get any more calls after that."

"I hope you're right. We should probably call the theater to make sure it doesn't–"

Ring!

"Let the machine answer it," Blair said quickly, seeing Jim's frown. He gestured toward the file folders awaiting the detective's attention. "You've got work to do, remember?"

Jim hesitated.

Ring!

Jim leaned forward.

"Jim," Blair warned. "You're just going to get mad again."

Ring!

Unable to resist, Jim stood.

Blair tried again. "Jim, let the machine get it."

Ring!

Ignoring Blair, Jim made his sixteenth trip across the room to answer the phone. Raising the receiver to his ear, he barked, "Ellison."

Half-expecting Jim to angrily retort, "You have the wrong number," Blair was surprised to see a smile slowly cross his friend's face.

"Jim?"

Jim turned to look at Blair, his eyes twinkling, before saying, "No, this isn't the theater, but maybe I can help you out."

Blair shook his head in amusement. "Jim."

"So, what movie did you want to see?" Jim grabbed the movie guide from the floor and quickly perused it. "Really? I've been wanting to see that movie myself."

 

~end~


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